Haiti's "pact with the devil" myth

How Pat Robertson turned a country's origin myth into a cheap invocation of Satanism

One of the most callous reactions to the Haiti disaster thus far has come from televangelist Pat Robertson, who told viewers of his Christian Broadcasting Network on Wednesday morning that he knew the real reason for the quake: The country's long-standing pact with Satan.

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Is there any truth to what Pat Robertson is saying?

Of course not! Haitians are Christians. Pat Robertson's language is the reductio ad absurdum of the Christian right. It's so absurd it's almost funny. This notion of a pact with the devil is basically an echo of an old colonial response to the successes of the 1790s Haitian revolution.

What is this pact he's talking about?

Part of the revolution mythology is that one of the revolution leaders sacrificed a pig in Bois Caïmin in a voodoo ceremony and made a contract with Petwo . It may or may not be true, but to call that a pact with the devil is a gross misrepresentation of what voodoo is. It's about anything but the devil. He's imposing an evangelical religious order on a much more sophisticated practice, and he's turning it into a cheap invocation of Satanism.

This is hate speech. It's saying these people are damned. It's a frequent theme among some Christians that Haiti is being punished for this supposed pact with extreme poverty and humanitarian crises. Tragically, many evangelical Christians in Haiti may actually, in their own extreme confusion and suffering and desperation, believe that God is punishing them.

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Whoda thunk it?

If someone tells you a story involving deals with supernatural entities, there's really no need to check snopes first.

And he did if for greed, not freedom which he already had.

The word devil means evil to most people.

Pat Robertson's evil partner has been convicted of War Crimes and is probably in jail for life for his evil deeds against his own people, which include murder and torture. Pat Robertson doesn't think his friend is evil, despite all the evidence against him.

But he thinks innocent victims, including children are evil. This man is seriously mentally ill and I don't understand why anyone believes a word he says, but sadly apparently there are enough who do to make him a rich man.

rhetoric, mentally ill? No, greedy, yes, obnoxious yes, narcissist yes, without moral understanding of right or wrong yes..but mentally ill? No, that is giving him a free pass for which he has not earned..

and I couldn't find one shred of evidence to the story. It's possible that the ceremony happened, and that the slaves swore a blood oath and prayed, but other than rumor, there is no solid evidence.

http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/academy/gelin-10-05.shtml

To me, it seems like this may be some kind of 19th century racist urban legend. "The blacks couldn't have beaten the French with out demonic help" sort of thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the French started the story to save face.

as an attempt to restrain their own christian slaves from rebelling, because obviously, rebellion by slaves is done with satan's approval.

I have no attribution, just something I read some 30 years ago.

I'm not sure how pacts with the devil typically work, but wouldn't the current citizens of Haiti have to renew it every so often? Seems grossly unjust that they would automatically be bound to it from birth when it was one of their great-great-great-great-great ancestors that instigated it.

Then, of course, it's Satan you're dealing with ...

You'd have to be pretty stupid.